Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 6, 1995 TAG: 9511060039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But that's what Roanoke area residents will be able to do the weekend before Thanksgiving.
In an effort to help the area's needy, Valley Metro will accept food instead of money for fares on Saturday, Nov. 18.
The event is the bus company's second annual Thanksgiving promotion on behalf of the Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank.
The deal is simple: Passengers get a one-way ride in exchange for a non-perishable food item. Edibles will be donated to the food bank, a non-profit organization that supports 425 food pantries in Southwest Virginia. Of those, about 100 are in Roanoke.
Canned items are ideal donations, as are packaged goods that don't require refrigeration, such as pasta (or jars of peanuts).
Passengers on Nov. 18 will be able to ride as many times as they like, as long as they have food to donate for each trip. The offer is good for any regular bus route.
Of course, Valley Metro will accept cash that day, too.
For more information about donations to the food bank, call 342-3011.
Recycling made easy
Four years after the effort began, more than half of Roanokers now can do their recycling at home.
The city government in the past two weeks has distributed 7,000 additional recycling carts throughout Roanoke, bringing the total number of homes eligible for curbside service to 23,000.
The expansion occurred in all four quadrants of the city.
Recycling "gives residents the opportunity to be more environmentally conscious ... and it helps reduce the amount of waste going into the landfill, which in turn saves tax dollars," said Laura Wasko, the city's recycling coordinator.
The carts look like standard plastic trash cans on wheels. Compartments inside allow residents to separate glass, steel cans, aluminum cans, and paper.
For the most part, recyclables are picked up with trash every other week. Calendars distributed with the carts inform residents when their scheduled pickups will be.
Curbside recycling made its Roanoke debut in 1991, when the city began service to 4,000 households. An expansion in 1992 boosted the number to 16,000 households. In the next few years, the city intends to expand the service to all its households.
Year-round advantage
For Roanoke County, there might be another reason besides academics to switch to year-round schools.
The change in the school calendar has helped reduce discipline problems in a Baltimore elementary school where children attend school for nine weeks and are off for three weeks.
The three-week break seems to give the children time to relax and recover from the pressure that builds up when they are in school, said Addie Johnson, the school's principal.
"It seems to be enough time for them to regroup and renew themselves so they are better able to handle the pressure," she said at a recent conference on year-around schools at Natural Bridge.
Johnson said the number of suspensions and expulsions decreased significantly after the school switched to the extended calendar.
Many school systems make the change to improve students' academic achievement. Johnson said her school's test scores increased after the switch, too, and the reduction in discipline problems was a side benefit.
A study panel has recommended that Roanoke County schools be allowed to rearrange their calendars so they could have a longer school year with many short breaks.
Superintendent Deanna Gordon said individual schools and communities will decide if they want to make the change. She said the concept will not be forced on any school.
School officials said there seems to be more interest in year-round schools than they expected. The earliest the change could be made probably would be the 1997-98 school year.
by CNB